Last April Cornell University celebrated their 150th Anniversary. We were happy to have been invited by Jigs Carlos so we could meet the members of the club and other parents who have children going to Cornell
Tita Linda Panlilio and Tita Annabel Wisniewski are graduates from Cornell 🙂 
Thank you Oona and Jigs for inviting us!! Jigs is also a graduate from Cornell
We visited Pratt Institute where our cousin, Mia de Jesus, just graduated from. It was already night time so we were just able to pass through Pratt’s Sculpture park.
Pratt’s sculpture park was recognized as one of the 10 best college and university campus art collections in the country by Public Art Review.
Seven Hearts by Noel Copeland at Pratt Institute Campus. A social statement about universal love consists of a series of 7 hearts coming from a central shaft. “Pratt Institute – Founded in 1887, Pratt Institute is a global leader in higher education dedicated to preparing its 4,600 undergraduate and graduate students for successful careers in art, design, architecture, information and library science, and liberal arts and sciences. Located in a cultural hub with historic campuses in Brooklyn and Manhattan, Pratt is a living lab of craft and creativity with an esteemed faculty of accomplished professionals and scholars who challenge their talented students to transform their passion into meaningful expression”
An interesting thing at Pratt Institute. They are called the Cats of Pratt. Ownerless cats going around the campus and students and faculty take care of them. 
We went to the engine room in the main bldg of the school and we saw one! 
The ribbons are awards won by the cats and they are displayed on the engine room window. The engine room provides heat and hot water to the campus since 1958. “The cats have become legendary at this school of art and design in Clinton Hill century old steam plant housed in the basement of East Hall that many call their home” (New York Times)
Click below to go to their website
In 44th street between 5th and 6th ave are the different clubs 
Harvard Club
Across is the Penn Club
“The Penn Club was conceived by The University of Pennsylvania as a permanent home in New York for Penn member alumni to meet and network with the wide community of member alumni from around the world. Additionally, our interaction with the city’s Ivy League clubs allows our members to network and mingle with groups from Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, thus enhancing the sense of community we seek to provide members of the Penn Club.
Penn Club offers its members exclusive access to a wide range of elegant facilities and outstanding services to enhance their life in New York – from entertaining clients with gourmet dining to relaxing with a massage.”
Since Jerome is a member and James is also from Penn, we can enter 🙂 
We grabbed a quick bite in the basement coffeeshop and bar
Penn logo all over including the tiles of the floor 🙂 
Click below to go to their website for more information
Penn Club of New York
My friend, Nicole Olbes Fandino, shared this with Heart2Heart in the hope that maybe some of you out there may want to help Una for her Art Education. The portraits would make a nice gift or a nice addition to your art in your homes. I talked to Geri, the Mom of Una to help me put together the details of this project and so here it is 🙂 Good luck Una!
Isn’t she amazing?
This is Una’s personal initiative to help us raise the money for her art education and at the same time, practice her skills. Her goal is to complete 100 portraits and 100% of the proceeds will go to her tuition and moving-to-Canada fund. It is a four-year program but we are all taking it one year at a time.
She is only about to start college life as an art student so technically, she isn’t one yet. Therefore the skills she is using to create these portraits are what she’s acquired from her private lessons through {SET} Artist Run Space (https://www.facebook.com/setarc?fref=ts)* while she built her portfolio.
*{SET} Artist Run Space offers portfolio building classes for art students.
All applicants to Emily Carr University of Art + Design must submit a portfolio as part of the admission process. Una worked with her teacher as she built the required body of work for ECUAD, where she has been accepted into the Foundation Year this fall term.
The portraits are her representations of the subjects.
All in all, the goal is really to raise funds for art education for ECUAD in Vancouver, BC. Una is still awaiting her study permit from the Canadian Embassy. She has also been accepted into the UP College of Fine Arts Painting Program and ADMU College of Fine Arts.
For those who would like to support, here are the mechanics:
Send a good, clear (preferably hi-res) photo of the subject to gilunag@gmail.com
Subject on email message: PORTRAITS {your name}
Price is P3000/head (plus shipping if applicable)
Upon confirmation of payment, Una will paint a 5X7 portrait for you.
Pick up or delivery can be arranged
The de Jesus family hosted the Welcome Dinner for the kids. Of course it has to be PINOY! 🙂 I made sure the staff looked Pinoy! 🙂
Yasmeen and her group!! All girls and all very pretty like her 🙂
Pinoy pica pica – cornicks, crispy mushroom, chicharon and fish crackers
Lambanog!
We put all 25 in the gazebo 🙂 And why it’s important there is a logo! 🙂
Jaime made a special request to serve his foreign guests a boodle fight, so that’s what they had! All out kamayan and I thought it was a great idea because I have been wanting to do a boodle fight for the longest time! Thank you Gourmet Garage and Chef Booj for a great set up
The labels are perfect especially since they do not know anything about our food. It’s their first time for many
I just put assorted Pinoy delicacies which they just put as well in the middle
I was thinking of a Halo Halo station but decided to do something different. Since the kids love mango, I opted for a mango dessert buffet – 3 mango cakes from Cuerva – Mango Cake, Mango Jubilee cake and Chocolate mango torte, Chocolate covered dried mangoes and fresh mangoes
Group photo by the official logo 🙂 We will do anything for our kids especially if they work hard in school – time to celebrate!
Giveaways 🙂
Thank you to Lolo Jun and Lola Menchu for the Starbucks Boracay tumblers, the kids will have a remembrance from their trip 🙂
Graduation of the Form of 2015. St. Paul’s School Sunday, May 31, 2015. It was supposed to be on the Chapel lawn but it rained so they had to do it in the gym. 156 graduates today and is the biggest graduating class in St. Paul’s School
We came around an hour ahead of the Graduation so we could get good seats, but apparently people were putting clothes and things to reserve haha!!! We could have done this too!! 🙂
Procession of Faculty and Trustees
Procession of Form of 2015
Our biggest investment is the education of our kids. That is the best gift we can ever give. We planned to send our kids to college abroad but Jaime on his own asked us if he could leave already for high school. I was very hesitant because I was worried he was too young. Till Father Caluag @titocaluag gave the go signal. He told me that by his age he should have already formed his values and learned from his parents and the family. I took that as God’s decision and message. Three years later, I am happy we did the right thing and our investment paid off. Congratulations to our eldest son Jaime!!! – Jaime Eduardo Lopez de Jesus – He graduated Cum Laude and is a big bonus and a super blessing.We are so proud! Though this is just the beginning and still have so much ahead
We are also so proud of the other two friends of Jaime!!! Summa Cum Laude!!! With Distinction plus awards. Congratulations Antonio!
Antonio Xavier Tambunting Roxas – Summa Cum Laude, Distinction in Languages and The Horae Editors Medal – presented to editors of the school literary published, Horae Scholasticae
Congratulations Yasmeen – Yasmeen Bahereh Sabet – Summa Cum Laude, Distinction in Humanities, Languages. The Malbone French Prize
St. Paul’s School has so many traditions. For graduation there were many and one of them was the handshaking by all the teachers with each and every graduate. They all lined up and the graduates shook the hand ( and some hugged 🙂 ) of each teacher in school. There were just as many teachers as graduates. In SPS, the ratio of teacher to student is 1:5
Of course Mimi was there 🙂 
Another unexpected guest – Kuya Mon – Jaime’s first cousin. So happy he attended and now even knows Jaime’s friends. We were one of the biggest family in attendance – 13
Smoking cigars is a boarding school tradition
From the Parade, everyone marched to the Hockey Rinks and had lunch! Class photo of Form 2015
They are so organised 🙂
Quick lunch
The 3 students representing our country in St. Paul’s School Concord, New Hampshire – Antonio Roxas, Yasmeen Sabet and Jaime de Jesus. Graduating as part of Form of 2015. They have also decided to celebrate with their friends so they invited 25 of their batch mates to go to the Philippines
So we asked the parents of their friends to come over for the lunch so we could meet them. It was an opportunity for them to meet us too and make them feel more comfortable about letting their kids stay with us. We were not able to meet all but most of them we did 9 ( but I was unable to take a photo of all 🙁 ) But here are some of them
Jake Dieterle and family
Trin Phatanaprasit’s parents – Prasong and Chananya
Paul Kigawa’s family
Annie Gray Burge with parents John and Hannah
Tim Hood’s parents – Cathy and Tucker
Noah Ruttenberg who is gigantic! 🙂 
Noah and his parents – Perri and Eric
Elena Tomlinson
And her parents – Jim and Kris
Samrat Patel and his parents DC and Mita
Sammy Brainard and her parents -Tod and Annie
Congratulations to these young and beautiful ladies Julienne Sison Vital and Ina Cuisia Sehwani on the opening of their 3rd branch of Mathemagis Singapore Maths in Serendra ( on top of Mamou) They own 3 ( Makati branches) out of the 7 branches in the country. Mathemagis is an after-school enrichment program for children ages 4 and up based on Singapore’s proven and effective Mathematics curriculum and methodology.
Happy Mathemagis recruits – mother and daughter Ina and Anju
Mathemagis is an after-school enrichment program for children ages 4 and up based on Singapore’s proven and effective Mathematics curriculum and methodology. Mathemagis focuses on developing children’s analytical and problem solving skills through the use of bar-model approach to analyze word problems. It also follows Singapore’s concrete –> visual –> abstract –> progression of teaching math concepts which makes math more understandable and fun for kids of various skill levels and interests.
Call any of the centers to find out more!
Makati: 556.5109, Active Fun, BGC: 403.0077, Timog: 261.1611, Shaw: 209.8128, Katipunan: 225.6330, SM Pasig: 0925.855.5582, Serendra: 0917.635.5940 
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